It's Christmas!!!!

11-19-13

Not too mcuh has been happening around the ranch.  We have two interns from the Juarez church that are the same age as me, and, oddly enough, they have the same name.  I've enjoyed hanging out with them and am excited at the possibility that they might stay for Christmas.  Speaking of Christmas, we've been decorating in the baby home and getting the kids excited about Christmas.  I've been getting pretty excited too and even spent my day off last week decorating my room.  Yes, yes, I know that you're supposed to decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving, but I got a little impatient.  Besides, I'm going to be gone for Thanksgiving, so I needed to get it done early, right?  That way my room can be all happy when I get back.

In my case, though, decorating for Christmas looked a little different than usual because I hadn't been able to go to the store for a while and so I got to make do with what I had.  Well, what I had wasn't all that much, so my decorations are handmade and.... unique.

The first item on my list was, of course, a Christmas tree.  My original plan had been to make a tree out of a post and artificial branches I had found in the bodega this summer, but maybe somebody needed to make their own Christmas tree, because the branches weren't there.  I therefore improvised with some hangers and green t-shirts.  (I told you they were unique!)  So, sit back and learn how to make your own Christmas tree.

First, you gather all your materials.  In this case, we have a post, green t-shirts, hangers, duct tape, fabric for a tree-skirt, and random craft supplies to decorate your tree.

Next, you duct tape all of the hangers onto the post, making sure to have them evenly spread out so as to make your tree nice and bushy.

After you've done that, hang the shirts on the hangers and arrange them so that they look as branchy as possible.  (Note: the last part of this step takes some imagination.)

Once you've completed that step, invite a good friend over to help you make ornaments.  Make sure to include bacon-cheddar popcorn and homemade hot chocolate in your craft time to ensure creativity.

When you have no more ornament ideas left (and all the hot chocolate and bacon-cheddar popcorn is gone), turn the Christmas music up and decorate your tree.  Congratulations, you have succesfully made your own Christmas tree.

The Christmas decorating didn't end with the tree though (it was an all-day event), and we proceeded to cut snowflakes (wishful thinking, I know), blow up and hang green, red, and white balloons, make a manger scene, and hang a wreath on my door.

This is my little manger scene.  It was late in the afternoon and I had used most of my craft supplies (and energy) on the tree, so Baby Jesus may or may not be made out of a little pink pom-pom wrapped in a popped balloon...

And here's my little wreath.  It's made from old wedding decorations, aluminum foil, snippets of red paper, and green pipe cleaners.

That's just about it.  I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my Christmas season and I hope yours is just as cheery.